Divided We Fall
by Peter Smith
Summary: Fourth in the "Junior Ranger" series. Aaron receives some bad news, Rita recruits an old ally and attacks with a plan to divide and conquer, and the Rangers suffer their first loss.
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes – this is the fourth in my "Junior Rangers" series, so again, a quick glance through the first three stories will give you the gist of what's happening. The story takes place about a week after the events of 'Tibrogargan.'

**Chapter One**

"Well, we can tell Scott his power is fine," said Aaron, looking up and shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun, "but his aim still needs some work."

Beside him, Sarah smiled, and they continued to contemplate the dilemma faced by people playing ball-sports in parks all over the world. The cricket ball was wedged solidly between two of the tree's branches about ten feet above their heads. The ball hadn't come down in any tree, either, but the tallest tree in the park, an enormous fig tree that was supposedly older than any tree in town, even older than the city itself.

The two Rangers glanced back to the cricket pitch, a strip of grass in a wide clearing between the trees where Scott and Teresa stood watching, Scott swinging the bat forlornly.

"I'm sorry!" he called, with a helpless shrug.

Aaron grinned. "Don't worry about it."

Sarah nodded. "We'll get it down in a couple of minutes," she called back, and the two Rangers looked back up to their quarry, hanging smugly just out of reach. "Can we climb up for it?" she asked.

"The branch is too narrow," Aaron replied. "Maybe we could... I don't know. I mean we can rescue kittens from trees, right? A cricket ball shouldn't be that hard." He turned back to Sarah to continue but stopped - a young boy, maybe six or seven with dark curls and bright blue eyes, was approaching them through the trees, and they noticed another boy about the same age with blond hair standing a few metres away.

Aaron smiled. "Hey," he said warmly. "Are you okay?"

"Sorry, there was nobody else," the boy began. "Me and my friend were playing before, uh, and we..." but his voice trailed off, his gaze drifting up into the branches of the tree. Turning to follow the boy's line of sight, Aaron nodded - a black frisbee was also held fast by two branches a few feet above the cricket ball.

"Man," Aaron murmured, looking back to the boy, "this tree's deadly. Hang on a minute," he continued, and turned back to Sarah. "So much for summoning the zords," he whispered.

Sarah laughed. "Just a hunch, but I don't think the Seniors would approve."

Aaron nodded, glancing around the base of the ancient tree. _Bingo_. A thick branch lying on the ground a few feet away caught his attention, and reaching over, he picked it up, took aim and sent the branch flying up through the air, where it struck the ball and knocked it out of its perch. Catching the ball as it fell, Aaron adjusted his aim and threw again - the cricket ball struck the frisbee and immediately dislodged it, both falling to the ground.

Sarah retrieved the ball while Aaron picked up the frisbee and handed it back to the boy. "Day saved," he said.

The boy grinned. "Thank you," he said. "That was awesome."

"Not a problem," Aaron nodded, and he smiled as the boy quickly made his way back to his friend.

"You big softy," grinned Sarah, as they began walking back towards the cricket pitch.

Aaron laughed. "Guilty as charged," he replied. "What are friends for anyway? Actually, speaking of which, can I ask you - I've still got all that maths homework that Mrs Hume gave us on Friday, you wouldn't be able to help me with it when we get back to the Youth Centre?"

Sarah nodded. "Not a problem," she said. "Long division. Nobody should have to deal with that alone."

"You're telling me," he replied. "I mean, calculators. It's why they were invented." By now they'd reached the clearing where Scott and Teresa stood waiting, flanked by Sarah's younger brother and several more members of the Tiaron clan - Teresa and Scott's family was large enough to make up its own team - and Aaron held up the ball to a round of applause. Grinning, he jogged back to the pitch, and the game began again.

Across the clearing, Tommy and Trini stepped out of the trees towards the cricket pitch, stopping by the picnic table where the younger Rangers had left their backpacks. Turning to watch, Trini smiled as Scott swung wildly at the oncoming cricket ball and everyone automatically ducked for cover.

"That's a powerful swing," she smiled.

Tommy regarded the game with a frown and sat down at the table. "So much for practice," he murmured.

"It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon," Trini replied, turning back to the Green Ranger. "I really don't think we can hold it against them."

"They don't need a game of cricket, they need to train."

At the tone in Tommy's voice, Trini shook her head. "After all the teams have been through, you still don't trust them?"

"It's not that I _don't_ trust them," Tommy replied. "It's just that I don't _trust_ them. They're kids. Every time we go into battle I can't shake the feeling I'm baby-sitting."

Trini frowned. "Now that's unfair."

"But how do you know we can really count on them?" he asked. "When the chips are down, they're still just kids."

"And we aren't?" Trini asked. "I don't know what to say to convince you but we're not in this alone, Tommy. They _are_ with us. Just give them a chance."

Tommy sighed. "Fine," he said. "What, do you and Jason work from the same cliff notes?"

Trini smiled, and turned back to the game. But everyone seemed to have agreed to a break for afternoon tea, and the four Junior Rangers were all heading back towards the table.

"Hey guys," said Sarah, reaching for the water bottle in her backpack.

"Afternoon," replied Trini. "Looks like fun."

Aaron nodded. "We could always use a couple more deep fielders, if you want to join us," he said, then grinned. "Scott's still batting."

Everybody laughed, and Scott beamed. "What can I say? It's a gift."

Teresa smiled, but looking past the two Senior Rangers, she suddenly caught sight of somebody walking down the hill towards them. "Oh hey, Aaron," she began, "isn't that your older brother?"

Aaron turned to look. "Yeah," he nodded, his brow lowering as his brother approached. "He was at the movies with a bunch of his friends all afternoon, I wonder what he wants?"

"Hi, everyone," said Matthew Gee, glancing around the group as he reached the table. "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but Aaron, Mum wants you home, like five minutes ago."

Aaron nodded, reaching for his backpack. "How come?" he asked.

Matt shook his head. "She didn't say, she just said it was urgent," he replied. "C'mon, we gotta move."

Aaron looked back to the other Rangers. "Sorry guys."

"That's cool," said Sarah. "I hope everything's okay."

"Me too," Aaron replied. "See you all tomorrow," and everyone watched as the two brothers turned and jogged away.

* * *

By now, there was no mistaking it - autumn on the Sunshine Coast was steadily turning into winter. The storm clouds that had been such a regular sight in the afternoons were giving way to clear blue skies, and while the sun still shone as brightly as ever, the temperature was dropping more and more away from the unbearable heat of the summer months. June was still a week away, but everyone could already feel that slight biting chill in the air and city instinctively knew that winter was on the way.

A new sandwich bar opened that week in Dicky Beach, and being the sandwich bar connoisseurs that they were, Jason and Zac invited Brendan and I to check it out with them that Sunday afternoon. The subject of far less jokes than you'd think, Dicky Beach is named after the HMS Dicky, a ship wrecked on the beach in 1893. Although the ship's superstructure has long since lost its battle with the elements, the ship's jagged iron ribs still jut from the sand. The sandwich bar sat in a line of shops facing the beach, opposite a caravan park with a monument to the HMS Dicky that held the anchor of the ill-fated ship. The city council was always planning to build a skatebowl there but never seemed to actually get around to it.

"So Zordon really never told you guys about the twelfth Power Coin?" asked Brendan, leaning back in his plastic chair on the pavement outside the shop.

I shook my head. "From the sounds of it, we were the only people who didn't know," I said.

"I wonder why he didn't tell you?" he asked, then smiled. "Probably just likes being dramatic."

I laughed. "You know he does kinda echo his voice in your head sometimes," I smiled. "Anyway, have you handed in your camp permission slip yet?"

Brendan frowned and shook his head. "With everything else I totally forgot."

"It's in like two weeks," I said. "You'd better hurry."

"Are the neanderthals coming?"

I nodded. "Joel's still walking with a limp, so I think you'll be right."

"Not me I'm worried about," he replied.

I waved my hand. "I'll be right. At last year's camp I bunked with Aaron, and funnily enough they left me alone."

Brendan thought of the Aqua Ranger and grinned. "I'll bet they did."

I began to reply but heard voices behind us, and turned around. "Oh hey, our food's here."

Behind us, Jason and Zac were weaving their way around tables and chairs across towards Brendan and I, each carrying a tray of food and drinks.

"Wow," said Brendan, as Jason and Zac slid the two trays onto our table and grabbed chairs from nearby tables, "that was fast."

Jason nodded. "I kinda winked at the girl behind the counter."

Zac rolled his eyes. "Dude, she was so not checking you out."

"You're just jealous," Jason grinned. "Anyway, Pete, here's one strawberry milkshake and one sausage roll," and he slid both items off the tray and across the table to me.

Zac gave Brendan his coca cola, then turned to me. "Three cokes and one milkshake," he said with a grin. "You individual, you."

"Can't stand the stuff," I replied, watching Jason drink his own cola. "Tastes like malted battery acid. Give me a lemonade or a good ol' fashioned milkshake any day of the week."

Zac laughed. "You know, Ernie would skin us alive if he knew we'd strayed."

"I won't tell if you won't," replied Jason, in between mouthfuls of his hamburger. "Man, this is good."

Brendan reached across the table to steal some chips from Zac's plate, but Zac swatted his hand away. "Meanie," he laughed.

"Man, so you guys really get tomorrow off?" asked Zac, thinking back to our conversation on the way here. "I wish our teachers all went to interstate conferences."

"Yeah," agreed Jason. "I also wish they didn't give us massive tests that were impossible to study for."

"Big one tomorrow?" I asked.

"Big one tomorrow," Jason nodded. "Some majorly important thing the Education Department needs us to take before we hit grade eleven next year. We'll probably have to turn our communicators off for a couple of hours."

"Leave the city in our hands for the morning?" I asked. "You trust us?"

Jason nodded. "Nothing you guys can't handle," he smiled.

"But wait a second," said Brendan, "if this is tomorrow, shouldn't you be home, at least going through textbooks and stuff?"

"How could I be expected to sit at home and study on a beautiful day like this?" asked Zac with a lopsided grin, before taking another huge bite out of his hamburger.

* * *

"What am I going to do?" asked Rita Repulsa, seated in the throne room of her lunar castle holding her head in her hands, with Goldar standing obediently nearby. "Twelve Rangers, Goldar._ Twelve Rangers_. The city's still standing, the Rangers are multiplying, and I'm running out of competent monsters. The last time twelve Rangers went into battle together..." The centuries-old witch shook her head at memories long past. "What can we do?"

"My queen," began Goldar, "I think I have a plan that will end our troubles once and for all."

Rita looked up to him. "If you've got something Goldar, hit me."

"We are facing a full team, that's true," he replied. "But the Rangers are still two teams of six, and not a single team of twelve. They rely on each other, they need each other. That's the weakness we can exploit."

"So we split them up," Rita said.

Goldar nodded. "If we can exhaust both teams, they won't be able to rely on one another, and should be easy targets. All we need to do is keep them away from each other. Their teamwork is a strength, true, but once broken up, the teams will fall."

A slow smile spread across Rita's face. "Goldar, that's brilliant," she said. "It seems I'm rubbing off on you. But what do we have powerful enough to throw both teams off balance in such a manner?"

"An old enemy of Zordon's," he replied. "You've worked with him before. He is trained in countless forms of combat, he has taken on entire armies single-handedly, and he is especially skilled with teams of Rangers. I believe he's dealt with at least three."

"You're not talking about who I think you're talking about, are you?"

Goldar nodded. "He will need some convincing, but he would be perfect."

"You're right there," agreed Rita. "Ultramarine won't be pleased to see us again, but come," and she stood up and reached for her wand. "We might as well give it a try."

* * *

The mountains rose up before Rita and Goldar as they approached the foothills. Mist clung to the peaks like a protective shield, and the forests surrounding the range were also dark and forbidding. Black clouds covered the sky, effectively keeping sunlight at bay, and the usual noises associated with heavily forested areas were totally absent. The landscape was grim, dark and silent.

"There's another abandoned village," said Goldar, pointing his sword down to a cluster of wooden huts that lay off the road he and Rita were following. There was nobody in sight, and the village was eerily silent. Rita nodded - they were definitely in the right area. That was the third abandoned village in the last ten minutes.

"He always did like his privacy," she replied. "It's amazing he hasn't earned the attention of Horath's own team of Rangers yet."

"We passed several Power Weapons lying on the forest floor a few minutes ago," Goldar said. "I think they already tried." He paused, then suddenly came to a halt. "Look my queen - the cave we seek."

Rita followed Goldar's gaze across to a cave in the side of a nearby mountain. The entrance was as black as death, and the stalactites around the entrance gave it the uncanny appearance of a grinning skull. Rita was about to ask Goldar how he knew this was the cave they were looking for when she glanced to either side of the cave entrance and saw two piles of skulls, not all of them appearing to be human.

"That's his calling card," she nodded. Taking the lead, Rita crossed the field, raised her wand and stepped into the cave.

Burning torches lined the cave walls, and they followed the tunnel steadily deeper into the mountain. There was no risk of losing their way - the torches provided more than enough light, and neither noticed a fork anywhere in the tunnel. Finally, the tunnel opened up into an enormous cavern, easily as large as the palace - there were no more torches and their path disappeared into shadow.

"I don't see anything," said Goldar, his voice echoing through the cave. "Maybe he's out..."

But he was suddenly cut off by a voice that echoed out of the darkness nearby, a voice dry and old yet simultaneously loud and pulsing with power. "Who dares enter my home?"

"It's Rita Repulsa," replied Rita, but she suddenly noticed two glowing red eyes peering out of the darkness at her and Goldar, and took an uneasy step back.

"Rita?" repeated the speaker, the surprise in the voice soon turning to outright anger. "We had an agreement. What are you doing here?"

Rita took a deep breath, and spoke. "I need your help, Ultramarine."

A dry laugh echoed from the darkness. "So, the great Rita has come to ask a favour. She even brought along her golden lapdog." In the darkness, Rita heard Goldar utter a low growl beside her, and the voice continued. "What do you want from me?"

Rita stepped forward. "Zordon's team of Power Rangers, you've heard of them?"

There was another evil chuckle from the shadows. "Everyone in this galaxy knows of your ongoing fight with Earth's Power Rangers. Having trouble with a few humans, are we?"

Rita ignored him, expecting no less, and continued. "Putting it simply Ultramarine, I've come to ask whether you wish to help me annihilate the Power Rangers once and for all."

There was a thoughtful pause for a few seconds. "What's in it for me?"

Rita smiled, not surprised at the question but surprised the speaker had taken this long to get to it. "How about the chance to have your name at the top of my Christmas card list?"

An angry growl rose from the shadows, and something that glinted silver in the low-light flashed towards a tall stalagmite several metres away from Goldar. The harsh sound of metal striking stone followed, and a second later, the top of the stalagmite toppled forwards and fell with a crash at Goldar's feet. For just a second, Rita's composure wavered, and she shivered - Ultramarine had just cleaved through a metre-thick hunk of solid rock.

"Don't play games with me witch. I have tolerated your presence in my cave long enough."

Rita stepped forward. "But that's what intrigues me most, Ultramarine. Not 'my planet' or 'my empire', just 'my cave'," she said. "I can't imagine what drove you to seek out this solitude."

There was another humourless chuckle from the darkness. "I ran out of enemies a long time ago, witch."

Rita nodded. "Allies too, knowing you as I do. Still, for someone with your love of victory, Ultramarine, you can understand why finding you here has me at something of a loss," she said. "But that's where Goldar and I enter the picture. Ignoring Earth's resources, here's your opportunity to leave this dank cave, step into the light and prove yourself once again." She paused, and smiling in the darkness, threw in the clincher. "Isn't it about time you showed the galaxy just what they have to fear?"

Rita paused, waiting for a response. She didn't have to wait for long. "You make an interesting argument, witch," the voice replied. "Maybe there _is_ a deal to be cut here..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Morning guys," called Trini, as she and Kimberly approached Jason and Tommy, the boys waiting outside the school's exam room amid a growing crowd of tenth grade students. "You all set?"

Tommy shook his head. "Do we win points for being honest and saying no?"

"You'll be fine," Kim replied. "Just keep your cool."

"Easier said than done," said Jason. "To be honest I'd feel more comfortable taking on a couple of monsters."

Trini smiled. "Where are the others?" she asked.

"Zac ducked off to get some food before we go in," Jason replied, "and Billy's over there. In his happy place," he added with a smile, nodding over towards where the Blue Ranger was sitting beside a garden bed with his books in his lap, in front of a semicircle of other students all furiously writing as Billy talked them through various mathematical and scientific questions. Seeing the girls, the blond youth smiled cheerfully and waved.

"He's so adorable," smiled Kimberly.

Trini laughed and looked back to the Red Ranger. "Should we turn off our communicators?"

Jason nodded. "I was reading the rules sheet pinned to the door," he said. "We're not allowed to leave until the exam is over in a couple of hours."

"Yeah," said Tommy. "Any kind of interruption and we're in big trouble. We called Zordon before, and he said it'd be okay."

The girls nodded, and reaching for their communicators, they flipped open a tiny hinge on the right sides of the devices, and pressed the button underneath, holding it down for a few seconds until the watch face went blank. Kimberly turned back to the guys, leaving her communicator on her wrist, while Trini unclipped hers and dropped it into her backpack.

Trini closed her backpack and glanced to her wrist. "You know, this feels really strange."

"I guess the Junior Team is on call," said Kim.

Jason nodded. "They'll be right. It's only for a few hours."

Tommy glanced from Trini to Jason, shook his head and shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen?" he asked. "Oh hey, guys, check it out - they're opening up the exam room. I'll go get Zac..."

* * *

Aaron still had the letter his mother had shown them when he and Matthew had gotten home yesterday afternoon, and it sat on his desk staring smugly up at him, unaware of the full consequences of what it was asking. At first he hadn't reacted - hadn't known how to, not to something like this - but this morning, that feeling of empty blank shock was being steadily overridden by a sense of crushing, hopeless defeat. He knew the family hadn't been left with much of a choice, not with the way things were, and his mother had warmed to the news so quickly that he didn't have the heart to protest. Matthew had been far more vocal, but Aaron knew his brother had gotten off lightly, considering. The fate of the world didn't rest on Matthew having to change high schools.

And the thing Aaron dreaded the most was telling the other Rangers.

There was no way around it, though. They _had_ to know, and sooner, rather than later. But the more he thought about it, the more he just couldn't imagine actually telling them. A few months ago, sure, he could've guessed how everyone would react to something like this, but now they were Rangers, everything was just different. Bigger. A restless few hours' sleep the night before had provided no answers, and it was far too soon that morning when Sarah knocked on the front door of the Gee house.

"Hey," nodded Aaron wearily, stepping outside and pulling the door shut behind him.

"Morning," smiled Sarah, but seeing Aaron's expression, her face fell. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Aaron replied. "Just didn't sleep too well last night, that's all."

"Well if you want to stay home..."

Aaron shook his head. "Don't worry about me," he said. "I'll be fine. Just gimme a few more minutes to wake up."

Sarah smiled, and they turned and headed away from Aaron's house, across the suburb and over towards the Youth Centre.

"So what's the plan for the day?" asked Aaron.

"There's a movie Peter and Brendan want to see," said Sarah. "Plus there's some kind of beach festival this afternoon, and some exhibition at the library Scott wants to have a look at."

"Sounds like fun," Aaron grinned, but as they walked on, his smile fell and he turned to Sarah. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"About being a Ranger," he began. "Did you ever think we'd be doing this forever? You know, for the rest of our lives?"

"Or you could maybe start with an easy one," Sarah said.

Despite himself, Aaron laughed. "I was just thinking," he said. "I mean, things change. What if, I don't know, Scott and Teresa's family had to move back to Italy or whatever. It's not like they're giving up or abandoning us or anything," he added quickly. "It's just, life goes on sometimes, you know?"

Sarah shook her head. "I've never really thought about it," she replied. "I guess I figured we wouldn't have to do the superhero thing forever. I mean, okay, it's what we have to do _now_, but sooner or later maybe we'll save the day for the last time and get on with living our lives. Why do you ask?"

The Aqua Ranger shook his head. "No reason," he said softly, thinking of the folded sheet of paper in his back pocket beside his morpher. "No reason."

Sarah nodded. "Well, just don't forget," she said, "I'm here."

Aaron smiled. "Thanks," he said, and crossing the street, they both continued towards the Youth Centre.

* * *

The doors to the observatory swung open, and Goldar and Scorpina quickly stepped into the room.

"What's wrong?" Rita asked, turning from her telescope to the two generals.

"Empress," said Scorpina quickly, "the teams are separated, isolated from each other."

Rita smiled a wicked grin. "Really?"

Goldar nodded. "Yes my queen."

"Excellent," she said. "Just the opportunity we need," and she turned to where a figure stood in shadow in the darkest corner of the observatory, watching the proceedings with two red eyes. "Ultramarine, you heard that, didn't you? Get down there and do what it is you do so well. You do remember the plan, right?"

There was a barely audible grunt from the darkness, and the figure vanished from the room leaving behind a faint blue vapour trail.

"You know," said Rita, looking back to Goldar and Scorpina, "I get the feeling he just doesn't like me."

* * *

It was an ordinary morning in the city of Caloundra. The city's central business district expands out from the main street of town, Bulcock Street, that lies only a few hundred metres away from Bulcock Beach, both named after the first person to settle in the area - Robert Bulcock, who built a homestead where Bulcock Street is now in 1875. Teenagers were taking surfboards down to the beach to enjoy the pupil-free day, families were doing the shopping, and accountants, lawyers and clerks were enjoying their morning tea break in the city's coffee houses and bakeries...

...until the warrior known as Ultramarine suddenly materialised in a flash of blue light in the middle of the street. On either side, citizens took one look at the warrior and automatically turned and ran in an instant blind panic. And it was then that Ultramarine realised what he'd been missing. _It was the screaming_. The cave on Horath had its benefits, certainly - solitude, darkness, the occasional overconfident bounty hunter - but it was the panicked cries of the terrified insects around him that reminded Ultramarine of everything he knew about himself.

He was power.

He was fear.

_And more importantly, he was back_.

* * *

The Youth Centre was packed with people that morning, filled with students all looking to make the best of their day off, and it took a good couple of minutes for Sarah and Aaron to make their way through the crowd of people to reach the table Teresa, Scott, Brendan and I had grabbed earlier.

"Hey guys," said Scott, as they joined us.

"Ernie must be doing a roaring trade this morning," said Sarah, glancing up to the Juice Bar.

"I'll say," I said. "You guys ready to take off?"

Aaron nodded. "My stomach's rumbling, though. Can we get something to eat first? Early lunch, maybe?"

"Yeah, but you're always hungry," smiled Teresa.

"Fair enough," Aaron replied. "Morning tea then?"

I laughed, about to reply when suddenly our communicators all chimed their familiar six-note tones, barely audible above the noise on all sides.

Brendan glanced around the crowded Youth Centre. "Uh..."

"Locker room," said Teresa. We all nodded, and getting up from the table, we made our way back down through the crowd towards the Youth Centre's locker room. Despite the people outside, the locker room was surprisingly empty, and Sarah shut the door behind us as everyone gathered around me.

I raised my communicator and spoke. "Zordon, go ahead," I said, "everyone's here."

"Rangers," began Zordon, and we could all hear the tone in his voice. He sounded worried. "We've just detected a disturbance in downtown Caloundra."

Scott nodded. "We're all at the Youth Centre, we can morph and be there in a minute."

"No," replied Zordon. "Please come to the Command Centre first."

I turned to the others. "But Zordon, wouldn't it be quicker if we just went there without..."

"No," interrupted Zordon firmly. "Just trust me Rangers," and the communicator fell silent.

"What was that about?" asked Brendan.

Teresa shrugged. "He's never sounded like that before," she said.

Aaron nodded. "I guess it's something major. Let's go," and with that, we tapped the buttons on our communicators and disappeared in six bright flashes of light. The Youth Centre disappeared, the city and then the countryside flashing by beneath us in a blur of motion, and seconds later we materialised in the Command Centre beside Alpha.

"Zordon, what's wrong?" asked Sarah, immediately looking up to our mentor.

"Yeah," I began. "Why couldn't we just go and fight the monster? Okay so we won't have the Senior Team as backup, but we could've at least had a shot..."

"Ayeyiyi," said Alpha. "If only it were that simple Rangers."

"Alpha is correct," said Zordon. "You will not be facing one of Rita's monsters today. You will be facing Ultramarine." He paused, letting his words sink in. "Please observe the viewing screen."

We all looked towards the back of the room as the viewing screen flashed to life, showing a tall figure rampaging down the main street of the city and leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. The warrior - who I immediately assumed was Ultramarine - was completely suited up in bulky blue body armour, with an orange triangular symbol on his chest and on both armoured boots. A round blue helmet covered his head, and where his face should've been was something resembling a gas mask. Above this, two glowing red eyes stared out from under the lip of his helmet. Mounted on his shoulder was a small blue laser cannon, and above each wrist was a shining blade that extended forward.

"He doesn't look so tough," I said, as we all looked back to Zordon.

"I warn you not to underestimate him," Zordon replied. "Ultramarine is a member of the Brotherhood, a race of warriors whose sole mission in life is to fight and destroy. Ultramarine is deadly in many forms of combat, capable of single-handedly holding off armies and laying siege to entire civilisations. Believe me, Ranger, he is not an opponent to be taken lightly."

"Civilisations?" repeated Sarah. "What do you mean?"

"Throughout history," Zordon began, "whether by magic, a blend of magic and science, or sheer luck, the human race has managed to cross time and space to inhabit other planets in the galaxy. Planets such as my home world Eltar, the desert planet Nerimos, Lomerius, Techthon, Horath, Triforia, Phaedos..."

"But if he's so dangerous why didn't you warn us before?" asked Scott.

"In the distant past, Rita and Ultramarine fought together," said Zordon. "But their alliance ended spectacularly, and they both spent a great deal of time trying to kill one other. I would never have expected them to become allies again."

"What do you think?" asked Brendan. "Should we call the Seniors?"

I shook my head. "We can't, they're still in that big exam this morning. And besides, Jason told me yesterday that their communicators would all be turned off right now." I glanced up to Zordon, and he nodded.

Sarah looked to her watch. "They've only got about a half hour to go, and the monster alarm might interrupt them anyway. We'll just have to hold this guy off for as long as we can."

Teresa nodded. "Alpha, keep your eye on the Senior Team. As soon as you can, contact them and send them into Caloundra to help us."

"What's the city look like anyway?" asked Scott. "Is there anyone who needs our help?"

Alpha shook his head. "The city was evacuated after Ultramarine's arrival," he said. "The town centre is deserted. There should be no civilians in any immediate danger."

Aaron nodded. "Good news at least."

"Okay, the plan's set," I said. "Let's roll."

"Be careful Rangers," boomed Zordon, concerned. "I'd try to stop you but I don't think I could. Ultramarine is a truly formidable opponent. Good luck, and may the power protect you."

I nodded. "Thanks, we'll do our best," and I turned to the others as we all reached for our back pockets. "Okay guys, this is it. It's morphin' time!"

"Parasaurolophus!"

"Rhamphorynchus!"

"Brontosaurus!"

"Velociraptor!"

"Stegosaurus!"

* * *

The six of us shot down towards the city in six bright streaks of light, materialising on the road a short distance from Ultramarine. Watching our arrival at the head of a trail of destruction, the warrior turned to face us as we all stepped forward and raised our arms defensively.

"Hi," said Sarah. "Welcome to Caloundra."

Aaron nodded. "We're here to hit you."

The warrior sneered. "Wow," he said, in a deep gravelly voice. "For a second there, I was almost impressed."

I shook my head. "You have no idea who you're dealing with pal," I said. "So get out of our city right now."

"The problem is that I do," Ultramarine replied. "I've crushed more opponents than I can remember, and you actually think you can threaten me. You are children, and the fact you think those coins will protect you from me is actually quite amusing. But Rita was right - it has been far too long," and with that, the warrior's two metal blades slid forward out of his wrist guards, and raising his arms he stepped towards us.

"Let's take this freak down," I said. "Blasters out!" We all unsheathed our side-arms and aimed them at the steadily advancing Ultramarine. "Fire!" Six laser blasts smashed into Ultramarine, and the whole area erupted in a blaze of sparks and smoke. But as the smoke cloud cleared, Ultramarine stepped through unharmed, as if nothing had interrupted his stroll up the street.

"Whoa," said Teresa. "Guys, that barely fazed him."

"We'll just have to do this the hard way," said Scott. "C'mon guys, let's take him!" And we all charged forward.

Teresa and Scott reached the warrior first, and ducking under twin slashes from his arm blades, they spun around and smashed their heels into his chest. What normally would have totally floored an opponent merely caused Ultramarine to stumble back a step, and both Rangers bounced away from him. Regaining his footing, Scott leaped towards Ultramarine and swung out with a lightning-fast left hook, but Ultramarine caught the blow and struck Scott's fist away, aiming a punch for Scott's helmet. The Blue Ranger ducked under the blow and dodged around a chest-high swipe before swinging a right backhand - reacting with surprising speed, Ultramarine caught his wrist, spun the Blue Ranger off his feet and threw him away.

Even as her brother fell, Teresa stepped forward and summoned her Power Whip, immediately cracking the weapon towards Ultramarine. Unfazed by the stinging blows, the warrior turned to the White Ranger, grabbed the whip and forced her forward, swinging a punch as she fell. But Teresa dived over the blow, and rolling to her feet, she spun on the spot with a high roundhouse kick - Ultramarine raised his arm and blocked the blow, turning to face the White Ranger as she continued to attack. He dodged a blow from the left, blocked a chop to the neck and struck away a low swipe. Stepping forward Teresa aimed high with twin judo chops, but Ultramarine caught her wrists, batted them aside and sent her crashing with a blow to the stomach.

"Teresa!" I cried, as the White Ranger crashed to the ground.

Ultramarine turned to me. "Orange Ranger," he growled. "You're mine!" Racing forward, he slashed with his right arm blade, but I ducked around the blade then leaped to the side as his left blade flashed towards me. Following after me, the warrior slashed out again, but I somersaulted over the blade, found my footing and took to the air, landing a rapid kick to his chest. While he was off-balance, I threw all my strength into a right roundhouse punch. His head snapped to the side but he immediately turned back to me, slashing out with his blades. I kicked away the left and ducked under the right, fighting to stay ahead of him. But the warrior was just too fast, carving his left blade down my chest and sending me crashing backwards in an explosion of sparks and smoke.

The warrior turned to face his three remaining opponents and found Brendan racing towards him. "Silver Ranger, power up!" Brendan cried, and two ribbons of light exploded from his chest diamond, spinning through the air towards Ultramarine. The first one blasted straight through Ultramarine's helmet in an explosion of sparks, while the second one began looping around Ultramarine on an invisible axis, spinning around faster and faster. Dazed from the assault but quickly recovering his senses, Ultramarine lashed out with his blades and managed to slice the second beam in half. The first stream of silver light spun back towards him, but Ultramarine took aim and fired a blast from his shoulder cannon that spiralled across the battlefield and slammed into Brendan - the ribbons of light vanished, and Brendan crashed to the ground.

Shaking his head, Brendan rolled to his feet just as Ultramarine charged forward and slashed with his blades. Brendan leaped back around the blades and summoned his Power Sai as Ultramarine followed him forward, slashing at the Silver Ranger. Brendan caught one blade with his sai and struck it away, before jumping up and back over a low slice and slashing both sai for Ultramarine's chest. The warrior quickly stepped back out of danger, before carving his blades towards Brendan and forcing the Silver Ranger to retreat.

Hearing steps behind him, the warrior spun around as Aaron and Sarah attacked, both leaping towards him and swinging high. He blocked both moves, and the two Rangers regained their footing and attacked again - Aaron kicked high, while Sarah aimed a blow for the warrior's stomach. Dodging around Aaron, Ultramarine caught Sarah's fist, batted away another punch from the Purple Ranger and threw her aside, before turning back to Aaron, blocking a punch and carving his blades from the Aqua Ranger. Aaron somersaulted back over the blades and leaped forward to attack again. But as he approached, Ultramarine raced forward and smashed him out of the air, and the Aqua Ranger crashed to the ground and rolled to a stop.

"Aaron!" I cried, as we raced over to the Aqua Ranger. In all the years I'd known him, I'd never seen Aaron come off second-best. "Are you okay?"

He nodded as he climbed to his feet. "Yeah," he replied. "But Zordon was right, this guy is just something else."

"What else can we do?" asked Scott. "We have to keep fighting him, at least until the others get here."

"Scott's right," Sarah nodded. "We don't have a choice."

Across from us, Ultramarine took the opportunity to raise his arm blades and charge towards us.

"Guys!" said Teresa suddenly. "Here he comes!"

I stepped forward. "He's mine," I said. "Power Sword!" Leaping forward, I raised my sword and the three blades met with a metallic clang that echoed across the battlefield. Ultramarine immediately stepped back and swung again, but remembering everything Jason had taught me, I blocked his right blade, struck away his left before swinging high and slashing at his chest armour. Ultramarine froze, stunned by the blow, and I spun around and smashed him back with a high kick. But Ultramarine recovered quickly, slashing out with his blades as I continued forward towards him. But with every swipe, I blocked his moves and countered his attacks. Finally, he swung both blades towards me from either side, but I brought my sword down and kept both blades in check.

"Orange Ranger," he grunted. "I'm impressed. You're good."

"You mean I'm winning."

"I didn't say that."

His shoulder cannon once again roared to life - at point blank range he couldn't have missed, and the blast lifted me off my feet and sent me flying back past the other Rangers and crashing through a shop window. But before anybody could react, Ultramarine continued firing, and the entire street erupted in sparks and smoke as each of the Rangers was blasted back away from him.

* * *

"Perfect," said Rita, an evil smile creeping across her face as she watched the battle through her telescope. "He even got them into position for me. I thought Ultramarine might've been past his prime, but he's still good, I'll give him that."

Goldar nodded. "He has lost none of that fire since last time," he said. "I cannot wait to see him take down the Senior Team."

"Then let's clear the road," Rita said, and looking back to the planet below, the witch raised her wand and bolts of lightning shot down towards the Earth. "Bring on the main event!"

* * *

With everything aching, the six of us slowly climbed to our feet, leaning on each other as Ultramarine steadily advanced.

"Man," said Scott, glancing around the group. "What now? He totally stomped us."

I glanced around and shrugged helplessly. "I..."

But standing beside me, Teresa put her hand on my shoulder. "Please," she began, "don't say 'I don't know'."

I nodded. "Okay, I won't say it," I said. "But I'm open to ideas."

Aaron shook his head. "I know we can do this, I know I can beat him," he said. "It's what we're supposed to do."

Across from us, Ultramarine sneered beneath his helmet. "They are making Rangers out of weaker stuff these days, aren't they?" he asked. "It took me days to break the last team, but I'll be done with you in minutes."

"Well," said Brendan. "Somebody's in love with himself."

I nodded, and looked to Aaron. "We distract him and you break him."

The Aqua Ranger nodded. "Works for me."

I looked back to the others, about to relay the plan when suddenly the world went haywire. Without warning a storm of lightning bolts struck down from the sky, dancing over the buildings and trees around us. The team all glanced around in confusion except for Aaron, who'd raised his fists and charged forward just as the lightning surged down towards us. I raised my sword to follow him when in a blinding flash of white, the city suddenly disappeared.

The world reformed around me into a wide circular space, although it was too big for the interior of a building and I suspected I wasn't even on Earth anymore. The area was enclosed by a stone wall with golden bars and strange gargoyle designs, with a starry sky for the ceiling. I couldn't see the ground, though - a thick layer of grey mist filled the entire space, and I could barely make out my own knee-caps, let alone the ground. Turning to see if I was alone, I breathed a sigh of relief - the other Rangers had been teleported here with me.

"Everybody okay?" I asked.

Teresa nodded. "Yeah, I think we're all fine."

"But where are we?" asked Scott.

"Guys," said Sarah, glancing around the place worriedly, "where's Aaron? He's not here with us."

There was a second of silence. "Oh no," I said quietly. "He's alone with Ultramarine."

"Rangers," came a sudden voice, and everyone turned to see Goldar and Scorpina standing at the far end of the space. "Welcome to Rita's Dark Dimension," continued Goldar. "We hope you like it because you'll be here a very long time."

"Whatever," said Sarah. "C'mon guys, we're getting out of here." And we all reached for our communicators.

Goldar shook his head. "As even the Senior Team knows by now, it won't work," he said. "The Dark Dimension is cut off from the Morphin' Grid. You can't teleport in, and you can't teleport out. Well, we can, but anyway. The only way to leave is through the gateway," and with a wave of his sword, an odd doorway rose out of the mist in the middle of the room. Sitting inside a stone doorframe that was covered in strange carvings, the door was gold and sealed shut with a huge ancient-looking padlock.

"If you can find the key," said Scorpina, "you can unlock the door and leave. I'd hurry if I were you - your aqua friend won't last long."

I stepped forward angrily. "Where is it?"

Goldar's lips curled into an evil grin. "On the ground somewhere. Good luck," and with that, they both disappeared in twin flashes of flame, leaving the five of us alone in the silence of the Dark Dimension.

"Find the key?" repeated Teresa, glancing around. "Guys, this is almost too easy."

"I wouldn't bet on it," said Sarah, looking down into the mist.

I nodded, and was about to speak when something brushed past my leg. Whatever it was, it felt solid but also gave me the unmistakable impression of somehow being _long_. Glancing down, I caught sight of a long, thin shadow that quickly disappeared into the mist.

"Uh, guys," I began, "we may have a problem."

* * *

"Ayeyiyi!" cried Alpha. "Zordon, I've just lost five of the Rangers! They've disappeared right off the Morphin' Grid!"

Zordon glanced across to the viewing screen in alarm. "Ultramarine was a set-up," he said, with slow realisation. "Rita's plan all along was to split the teams up. Alpha, run a scan for the other Rangers. Try the Dark Dimension, as well as any of the other pocket dimensions Rita has used in the past."

"But what about Aaron?" Alpha asked. "Zordon, we have to send him help!"

"At the moment, finding the Junior Team is the only thing we can do," Zordon replied. "We have to have faith in Aaron. Until news of the attack reaches the high school, there's just no way of contacting the other Rangers." Zordon paused, sighing, but looking down to Ultramarine on the viewing screen, an idea suddenly came together. "Alpha, the schools all had monster alarms installed to supplement their existing fire alarm systems, didn't they?"

"Yes Zordon," replied Alpha. "I recall the Rangers talking about it. Why do you ask?"

"The alarms are likely wired into the school's central server, which itself would have to be connected to a modem," Zordon said. "It may take us a few minutes but we might have a way of alerting the Rangers to the situation after all."

"Zordon that's brilliant!" Alpha cried. "I'll get working on it right away."

"Excellent," the sage replied, and glanced back to the viewing screen. "Hold on Aaron. Help's on the way."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The entire street erupted in sparks and smoke as Aaron raced towards Ultramarine. Hearing a cry, he stopped and turned back just as the five of us vanished from the scene and the storm of lightning bolts ended, leaving nothing but debris and a clearing cloud of smoke. A brief second of almost-paralysing fear rapidly became white-hot anger, and the Aqua Ranger spun back to Ultramarine.

"Where are they?" he cried. "What did you do?"

Ultramarine narrowed his eyes at the Aqua Ranger, ignoring him. "That wasn't supposed to happen," he said quietly. "Why are you still here?"

Aaron shook his head and charged towards the warrior. "I said," he began, reaching down to scoop up an arm from a lamp-post Ultramarine had destroyed earlier, "_where are my friends?_"

He swung the pole in a wide arc as he approached, catching Ultramarine under his jaw and smashing the warrior backwards. Aaron swung again as Ultramarine stumbled back, slamming the bar into the side of Ultramarine's helmet before bringing the weapon back down towards the warrior's chest with all his strength. Dazed from the assault, Ultramarine could only stagger back, unable to defend himself as Aaron followed after him, swinging the weapon with every step and landing blow after blow. Finally, Ultramarine regained enough sense to step back around the bar, and when Aaron swung again Ultramarine raised his arm and cleaved the bar in two as it fell towards him.

Continuing forward, Aaron threw the bar away behind him and smashed his left fist into Ultramarine's jaw. Turning back to Aaron, the warrior retaliated - Aaron ducked under the warrior's armoured fist, and aimed high with a left hook. Ultramarine grabbed his fist, and caught Aaron's right when the Aqua Ranger swung again, holding his opponent in place. But Aaron took to the air, his boot catching Ultramarine's jaw as he somersaulted backwards. While the warrior was off-balance, he charged forward, taking to the air and aiming a kick for the warrior's stomach - Ultramarine grabbed his left boot, but without slowing down the Aqua Ranger used the warrior's own hand for leverage and kicked high with his right foot, knocking the warrior back before dropping to the ground.

Ultramarine quickly found his footing, and he angrily spun back to the Aqua Ranger. His wrist blades slid into position as he turned, and he sliced his blades through the air towards his opponent, forcing the Aqua Ranger back. Aaron ducked under a slice from the right, dodged another and stepped back around a third, all the while searching for a way to get past the blades and take the battle in close. Ultramarine slashed low, and as Aaron jumped up and over the blade, Ultramarine spun on the spot and slashed his right blade across Aaron's chest, sending the Aqua Ranger back in a blaze of fire and sparks.

Recovering quickly, the Aqua Ranger wordlessly summoned his blasters, immediately raising them and firing. But Ultramarine had already covered the distance between them, and he smashed his palms into Aaron's wrists - the blasts went high and Ultramarine began firing, the warrior's shoulder cannon lifting Aaron off his feet and sending him crashing through the side of a nearby building.

"You're strong, I'll give you that," said Ultramarine, as Aaron painfully picked himself up and stumbled out of the ruined store, "but you're still out of your league."

The Aqua Ranger slowly turned to face the warrior, holding his blasters defensively across his chest. "Where are my friends?" he asked. "Tell me, _now_."

"Somewhere out of the way," Ultramarine replied, "where they won't bother anybody, at least for now." He paused, and shook his head. "I'm not sure why you're not with them, but trust me," and the warrior raised his blades, "it won't matter in the slightest."

Leveling his blasters at his steadily advancing opponent, Aaron stepped back out of range of Ultramarine's blades, glancing hopefully up to the sky for any sign of the others and for the second time that day feeling very decidedly alone.

* * *

Watching the battle from afar, Rita had been dismayed to see something which she hadn't counted on - the Aqua Ranger escape the barrage and continue fighting Ultramarine.

"One small hiccup," she said, turning to Goldar who'd returned and was standing beside her. "It won't matter in the long run, it can't."

Goldar nodded. "I'll give the order to the putties to move out."

"No," began Rita, "wait. You've been so efficient Goldar, why don't you take the putties down and lead the charge yourself? I think you've earned it."

"Yes, Empress," Goldar replied, before turning and walking away.

"One lone Power Ranger won't matter much either way," said Rita with a nod, "and it may even have unforeseen advantages," and standing to her full height, she raised her wand. "This one's for old times' sake. Grow Ultramarine, grow!" And for the second time that day, lightning bolts crackled down from the moon heading straight towards the city.

* * *

With a relieved smile, Kimberly slid the reading comprehension part of the exam over to the 'finished' corner of her desk, and was just reaching for scientific reasoning when she suddenly became aware of a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Leaving the test where it was, Kimberly turned to the window beside the desk and gazed outside. As a gymnast, she'd trained herself to be totally aware of everything around her, every part of her environment - often the difference between a crash landing and a perfectly-balanced somersault - and she could feel something in the breeze, the faintest of sounds behind the ordinary noises of the day reaching the school. Whatever it was, Kim just couldn't shake the feeling that something somewhere was seriously wrong.

Glancing down to her wrist, Kim gazed at her communicator helplessly. She couldn't risk interrupting the exam or getting the attention of the other Rangers, but right then contacting Zordon to ease her nerves seemed like the most important thing in the world. A lot more important than, and she looked back down to the exam, the lifespans of exotic breeds of shellfish.

Without warning, an alarm began to sound, and as the loud siren echoed through the interior of the building, everyone immediately looked up and around in surprise. At the front of the room, the three teachers on duty glanced around to each other at a loss, but taking charge, Mrs Appleby got to her feet and raised her voice.

"Everyone!" she called. "That's the monster alarm! There's no helping it - you'll need to leave your desks and find the nearest underground shelter!"

The room instantly erupted into a panicked chaos as everyone leaped from their chairs and raced for the doors, the crowd almost breaking them down as everybody surged outside. Getting to her feet, Kimberly quickly scanned the room, and seeing the other Rangers heading towards Jason and Tommy at the back near the doors, she crossed towards them, everyone meeting up just as the building emptied.

"The monster alarm," said Tommy. "Figures."

"I just hope the Juniors are okay," said Jason, as everyone reached for their communicators to turn the devices back on.

Zac glanced to Billy beside him. "I gotta know, since the test is null and void, question fourteen's been bugging me for hours..."

"Thirty-seven point nine," Billy replied with a smile.

"Damn it."

"You know, while I was sitting there I could totally feel something wrong," Kimberly said.

"But I don't get it," said Zac, turning to her. "If that was the monster alarm, where's the monster?"

Tommy turned to the Black Ranger, but glancing out the windows behind him, Tommy's eyes went wide. "Zac - problem solved!"

Everyone turned to follow his gaze, just as a storm of lightning bolts struck down from the heavens across the city, and an enormous blue figure suddenly rose out of the smoke cloud to tower over the nearby buildings.

It felt like it took forever, but his communicator finally switched back on, and Jason instantly hit the top button. "Zordon, we're all here," he said quickly. "We can see it - what's happening?"

"Rangers, thank goodness," came Zordon's voice. "I had Alpha activate the school's monster alarm remotely, it was the only way to reach you. The blue warrior you can see is Ultramarine, an old ally of Rita's. The Junior Team were fighting him earlier but they were unable to defeat him..."

"Big surprise," muttered Tommy, but Trini jabbed the Green Ranger in the ribs.

"...before vanishing from our scanners. We still haven't been able to find them," Zordon continued. "But somehow Aaron was left alone facing Ultramarine, and he needs your immediate help."

"We can't fight this guy and go rescue the Juniors," said Tommy. "Not at the same time."

"The Juniors can take care of themselves," said Zac. "They'll have to."

Billy nodded. "Affirmative," he agreed. "They should be well equipped to handle their present situation, whatever that might be."

"They'd better be," added Jason, and everybody heard the anger in his voice. "Okay Zordon, we're on our..." But glancing up to the enormous blue figure in the distance, something much closer to the school suddenly caught his attention. "_Oh no_."

The other five Rangers turned to see what Jason had spotted. It was impossible to miss - Goldar, leading an army of what looked to be hundreds of putties, down the hill and straight towards the school.

"Zordon!" cried Trini. "Goldar and the super putties...!"

"We see it too," Zordon replied. "From here it looks to be, well, _all_ of them."

"Ultramarine must only be a diversionary tactic," said Billy, glancing around the group. "While we engage him in combat, Goldar and the army annex a portion of the city."

"And hold us to ransom," finished Trini. "We have to stop them, as well as somehow fight this Ultramarine."

Billy shook his head. "Negative. If we split up, we'll lose both fronts."

"Can't we just blast 'em with the zords?" asked Tommy.

Jason turned to him. "When they're _this_ close to the school?" he asked. "There's no telling who'd get caught in the crossfire."

"As much as it pains me to admit, I agree," said Zordon slowly. "As dangerous as Ultramarine is, you all have to stay where you are. Stop Goldar and the putties at all costs."

"Yeah," said Jason softly, glancing around the group. "Just one problem. Aaron."

* * *

The bolts of lightning had surged down through the atmosphere and towards the street just as Ultramarine had raised his blades to strike, and Aaron could only look on as several bolts suddenly struck the warrior - there was a rush of wind and a great roaring noise, and Ultramarine was suddenly rising out of the smoke cloud, soon standing fifteen storeys tall and towering over the apartment blocks and office buildings around him. Aaron leaped to safety as Ultramarine took a giant step forward, and had just rolled to his feet when his communicator chimed.

"Guys," he said, bringing his wrist to his visor, "wherever you are, I could use some serious back-up."

"Aaron," came Jason's voice. "I don't want to be saying this but we can't - Goldar's leading an army of putties straight into the school. We can't leave - we have to stop them."

Behind his visor, Aaron's expression fell. "So I'm it then?" he asked, his voice sounding small. "You guys aren't coming?"

"Alpha and Zordon are trying to find the others now," Jason replied. "They shouldn't be much longer..."

"No," replied Aaron, his voice clear, the Aqua Ranger realising what he had to do. "Jason, we both know the city can't wait that long. Look, I can hold off Ultramarine in the Parazord until you guys can help, or until the others get back from wherever they are."

"No," came Tommy's voice. "The Parazord won't survive. You can't fight him alone."

"Yeah," said Jason. "I have to agree with Tommy on this. Are you sure?"

"What other choice do we have?" Aaron asked, and that was it - there wasn't.

There was a second of silence, and Aaron could just imagine the discussion on the other side of the communicator. "Okay," came Jason's voice finally. "Just... be careful. Good luck," and with that, the communicator fell silent, and Aaron looked back up to the towering figure of Ultramarine.

"Okay," he said softly, "this is it Aaron. This time you're on our own," and lifting his arm to the sky, Aaron raised his voice. "I need dinozord power, now!"

* * *

With the battle looming, Goldar advanced towards the city, leading the army of putties past the high school and continuing down towards the city park.

"Hold it right there!" came a voice. Goldar looked forward and growled - the six Senior Power Rangers stood in a line across the road, effectively blocking the army's march forward.

"You again, power weaklings?" he grunted, raising his sword.

"Whatever you're planning, don't," continued Jason, and Goldar couldn't help but notice the edge to his voice. Hard and sharp, like a sword.

"Yeah," said Zac, "because we have other places to be and other badguys to fight."

"Fools," growled the golden warrior, before turning back to the putties and raising his sword. "Charge!" he cried, and as one, the entire army surged forward, the agile grey warriors rapidly covering the distance between them and the Rangers.

"We took 'em all out once," said Jason, not even contemplating the odds of losing, "and we can do it again. Power Sword!"

"Power Axe!"

"Power Lance!"

"Power Daggers!"

"Power Bow!"

"Dragon Dagger!" finished Tommy. Summoning each of their Power Weapons, the Rangers hesitated for a second longer before racing forward to meet the approaching army.

"So what do you think?" asked Kim, dropping an entire line of putties with a barrage of rapid-fire arrows and glancing to Jason beside her. "Did we make the right call?"

A few feet away, Jason blocked a low kick, struck back with a roundhouse punch and sent several opponents crashing with a slash from his sword. "Not sure," he replied, looking up the towering figure of Ultramarine across the city. "But I really hope so."

* * *

"A snake?" repeated Teresa. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Well it was long and heavy, and it felt like it was moving pretty fast."

The Rangers all nodded, and everyone began gazing down into the mist, trying to catch a glimpse of what I'd seen. Across from me, Teresa shivered - it was cold and way too quiet in the place.

"Why did it have to be a snake?" she murmured, glancing across to me. "Snakes just give me the creeps."

I nodded. "I heard that."

Suddenly, something heavy brushed past Brendan's leg, and he instinctively jumped back with a loud yelp.

We all spun towards him. "What is it?" asked Scott. "Are you okay?"

"Peter's right," he replied, pointing down into the mist. "There's definitely something in here with us."

"Which way did it go?" asked Sarah.

Brendan shrugged. "I'm not sure."

I gazed down into the mist, straining my eyes to see whatever it was that Rita had left in here with us. Between the eerie silence and the thick mist, this place was creeping me out more and more with every passing second. Whatever it was, it could attack from anywhere, and wrestling a giant snake was most certainly not on my 'to do' list.

"Well," said Scott brightly. "You've got to hand it to Rita, she's definitely thinking her plans through a lot more these days."

"You can say that again," muttered Sarah. "I just hope Aaron's okay..."

All of a sudden, Brendan yelled, "Heads up guys, over there!" We all instantly spun around to where he was pointing, and sure enough, something was rising out of the mist about ten metres away from us. A head with a long, scaly neck attached, but as we watched the beast's head rise out of the mist, the rest of it seemed to be all neck, and I realised I'd been right - it was a snake. Peering across to us through two red eyes, the creature flicked its tongue between long sharp fangs to taste the air, and gazed at us in the cool predatory way that only snakes can. Its reptilian skin was light grey, almost white, giving it perfect camouflage in the mist.

"At least we're invulnerable," said Brendan, then looked around. "Right?"

I nodded. "We don't break, but we still need to breath," I said. "If this thing is a python, well..." and I let that sentence finish itself.

Suddenly, the snake dived forward, its head plunging into the mist and disappearing from view.

"Where is it?" asked Teresa quickly.

"Coming straight for us," said Sarah. "But let's not wait for it. Power Mace!" And in a flash of purple light, Sarah's Power Weapon materialised in her hand.

"Got that," nodded Scott. "Power Staff!" The blue staff formed in Scott's hands, while I raised my sword and Brendan held both sai at the ready. Realising that her whip wouldn't be the most effective weapon against the creature, Teresa unsheathed her blaster.

"We can take down monsters, we can deal with a snake," she said, as everyone waited in tense silence for the snake to strike.

A grey serpentine head suddenly rose from the mist behind Scott. The creature glared at him a second longer before darting forward and immediately throwing several loops of its long grey body around the Blue Ranger. Scott cried out in surprise and tried to defend himself, but the snake quickly pinned his arms to his side, its head rising up to peer down at its struggling prey.

We heard his cry and all dashed over to help. Teresa reached her brother first, and wary of accidentally injuring Scott, dropped her blaster and grabbed hold of the snake's body, trying to loosen its deadly hold. Sarah, Brendan and I reached Scott's side a step behind Teresa - I couldn't risk a clear swing at the snake with my sword, but beside me, Sarah swung her mace for the creature's head, while Brendan rammed one of his sai into the snake's body, driving the weapon right up to the hilt. With a screech of pain, the serpent immediately loosened its hold around the Blue Ranger, the creature's body dropping down in the mist and disappearing from view.

We all helped Scott stay on his feet.

"Are you okay?" asked Brendan, then frowned. "Sorry. Stupid question."

Scott smiled. "Been better," he puffed, resting on Teresa's shoulder, his heart still racing, "but I think my ribs are all in one piece. Did we get him?"

Brendan shook his head. "Nope. Just made him angrier."

Sarah nodded. "Good," she said. "That might just make this fair."

I turned to her, about to reply when the snake suddenly attacked again, rising from the mist and wrapping its body around me in one fluid motion, pinning my sword arm to my side. I threw my shoulder back and freed my left arm just as the snake wrapped itself around my ribs, and I reached up and managed to catch the beast's head as it lunged for my helmet with an open mouth.

"Guys, help!" I shouted.

Sarah, Teresa and Brendan immediately turned to me and leaped to my defense. But as they approached, the snake's tail flew up out of the mist and slammed the Rangers back, Brendan's sai and Sarah's mace clattering into the mist as all three Rangers crashed to the ground. Even as they fell, the snake threw more loops around me, and it felt like it weighed a ton - it was becoming impossible to stay standing.

I felt the snake's body tighten its grip around me. With every breath I exhaled, the pressure on my ribs and stomach increased.

"Guys!" I gasped, as the snake shook its head wildly, trying to break my grip. A few metres away, Scott had watched the other three Rangers fall, and gritting his teeth, he raced over, reaching down into the mist as he ran and managing to grab one of Brendan's sai. As he continued forward, the beast's tail flew up out of the mist, but he dived over it and rolled to his feet.

Without slowing down and with only a second to gauge his aim, Scott rammed the sai down into the snake's head, right between the creature's eyes. The snake let out an instant pained screech, and I threw the beast's head away as it began to shake from side-to-side. The snake screeched again but it was a weak cry, and I immediately felt the pressure on my chest decreasing. Then, Scott pulled the sai free of the beast's head, and the creature's body uncoiled away from me and fell down into the mist.

Scott helped me step over and away from the snake's body.

"Thanks," I puffed, as everyone ran over to us. "Just... thanks."

Scott smiled. "Anytime," he said. "One problem down, one to go."

"Great move," nodded Brendan, as Scott handed him back his weapon, "but next time, can you clean the sai off afterwards? Eugh..."

I stepped back from Scott, and my feet managed to hold me up. With a nod, I looked over to the gateway. "Well, I guess we should..." but my voice trailed off when I saw it - a grey head with red eyes, rising from the mist a step behind Sarah. _Oh no! There had been two of them!_

"Sarah!" I cried. "Behind you!"

Sarah spun around, raising her mace, and just as the snake lunged, she smashed the snake across the side of its head with all her strength. The blow was intense, taking the snake's head clean off and sending it flying across the room in a crimson blur before disappearing into the mist. The now-headless body hung in the air for a second and fell to the ground with a 'clump', and then the place was silent again.

"Well," she said, turning back to us. "That was fun." Everyone stayed staring at the Purple Ranger in a mix of shock, awe and fear, and she looked away. "Just worried. We've spent too long in here as it is."

I walked over to her. "Aaron'll be fine," I said. "In fact I'd bet Ultramarine won't even know what hit him when Aaron gets through with him. Now let's find that stupid key and get out of here."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Ultramarine smashed his fist down onto the roof of an apartment complex, instantly shattering every window in the top three stories and sending great cracks splintering down the side of the building. Stepping back, he swung his arm at the building's side and reduced the building's top four storeys to rubble. One more punch was all it took for the entire complex to come crashing down in a cloud of smoke and debris.

The warrior stepped back onto Bulcock Street to admire his handiwork, casually crushing two cars and a delivery truck in the process

"Power," he rumbled, "to shatter nations, and a world to grind beneath my heel. I'm invincible!"

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and Ultramarine looked up and around in surprise to see a giant Parasaurolophus powering through the city towards him. Bellowing as it approached, the mighty Parazord shook the city streets with every colossal step, its eyes glowing red, aqua armour shining under the midday sun and enormous tail swinging behind it.

"Well let's not get ahead of ourselves," said Aaron, the external radio broadcasting his words across to his opponent. "Because you know what? I wouldn't bet on it. Parazord, online!"

Ultramarine sneered beneath his helmet. "I don't think I've ever met such a glutton for punishment. I already humiliated you boy, and now I will wipe you from the pages of history."

Aaron piloted the zord forward. He'd never fought with the Parazord in one- on-one combat before, and he had no idea of the zord's full capabilities. "Maybe I'm not gonna make it out of this in one piece," Aaron replied. "But guess what sunshine? I'm a Power Ranger, and right now your prospects aren't looking that good either."

"Well, then what are we waiting for?" asked Ultramarine, and he took an enormous step forward. "Let's rumble."

Charging forward, Ultramarine immediately smashed the Parazord back with an uppercut. The Parazord quickly recovered, and as Ultramarine continued forward with a roundhouse punch, the zord ducked under the blow, batted away Ultramarine's arm then smashed its fist into Ultramarine's chest armour, before landing another punch to the warrior's helmet. Glancing down to the control panel before him, Aaron's gaze fell on a red switch marked 'lasers', and reaching over, he hit it - red lasers blasted out of the Parazord's eyes and smashed into Ultramarine's chest, sending the warrior to the ground in an explosion of sparks and smoke.

Ultramarine rolled to a stop in a cloud of dust, and smashed his fist down angrily, demolishing a fruit and vegetable store. Leaping to his feet, the blue warrior charged back towards the Parazord, striking the zord back with a double punch to the chestplate. The zord stumbled back in a shower of sparks, but as Ultramarine continued to rain down blows, the zord blocked a high swipe, batted away a low punch and smashed the warrior back with a blow to the stomach. Ultramarine turned back to the zord and swung high - the Parazord ducked the blow, but as the zord turned to face him, Ultramarine stepped forward and landed a kick to the zord's stomach before firing a blast from his shoulder cannon, the entire area erupting in sparks and smoke.

Aaron pushed the zord forward regardless and the Parazord stormed through the blasts unfazed. Approaching the blue warrior the zord went on the offensive, swinging high with a roundhouse punch. Raising his arm, Ultramarine caught the Parazord's fist and struck it away, before aiming high with a roundhouse punch. The Parazord blocked the warrior's fist and knocked it aside, landing a kick to the warrior's stomach. The warrior stumbled back a step but recovered from the blow almost instantly, charging forward and sending the zord reeling with an uppercut. Now with the advantage, Ultramarine continued forward, and Aaron distinctly heard Ultramarine's two wrist blades sliding into place as he steered the Parazord back to its feet.

"I'm bored," grunted the blue warrior. "Let's end this," and stepping forward, he slashed his left blade through the air - the Parazord dodged the blade with metres to spare, but when Ultramarine swung with his right, Aaron maneuvered the Parazord forward to successfully block Ultramarine's arm in mid-swing. But stepping back, Ultramarine slashed again with his left blade, slicing it down across the Parazord's stomach, the blade cleaving through the zord's armoured plating and mangling the pipes and hydraulic systems within the zord's stomach. Sparks and debris rained down from the slash as the Parazord stumbled backwards in a blaze of fire, and while the zord was off-balance, Ultramarine followed it forward with another slash - the blade carved through the zord's chestplate, and the Parazord crashed to the ground.

Sparks rained down over him in the control room as Aaron glanced desperately across the control panels before him.

"Damn it," he said, "two minutes ago I was winning." Another shower of sparks from an exposed wire forced him to duck. "Power level dropping. C'mon Aaron, pull this together. You can do this." He paused, and glanced around the zord's interior. "_We_ can do this." And with the zord's power level at sixty percent and falling fast, the Parazord slowly climbed to its feet.

"Coming back for more?" asked Ultramarine. "If you insist."

"Trust me," replied Aaron, "it'll be my pleasure." And he reached across to the button marked 'sonic roar', and hit it. The zord's eyes flashed, and throwing back its head, the Parazord let out a bellowing cry - buildings shook, windows shattered, and as the cry went ultrasonic, Ultramarine slammed his hands over his ears in agony. In the zord's cockpit, automatic sound-proofing kept Aaron safe, and glancing down over the controls, he saw a large red button that didn't seem to have a name. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he reached across and slammed his fist against it.

A massive blast of energy exploded from the zord's mouth, spiralling across the battlefield, slamming into the still-reeling Ultramarine and instantly launching him backwards through the air. The warrior crashed to the ground and rolled to a stop in a cloud of smoke, and inside the Parazord, Aaron nodded - judging from his falling power level, doing that again was out of the question, but once had definitely been worth it.

Dazed, Ultramarine climbed to his feet, and shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears, he turned back to the Parazord.

Aaron grinned. "Coming back for more, eh?"

Enraged, the warrior's eyes flashed red, and with a roar Ultramarine charged back towards the zord. Taking to the air, the warrior launched the Parazord back with a high kick, before landing and slashing again and again with his wrist blades. The Parazord successfully dodged the first few swipes, but it was losing power fast and couldn't stay ahead of the warrior's frenzied assault. Two, three, four huge gouges appeared in the Parazord's chest and stomach plates. Thrown around wildly inside the zord's cockpit, Aaron fought to hang onto the controls, realising he was losing but knowing he had to keep Ultramarine fighting. He slammed his fist against the laser button again, forcing Ultramarine to back off in a shower of sparks. Despite its scars, the Parazord stepped forward to attack, but as the zord raised its arm to strike, Ultramarine slashed high with his wrist blade and cleaved through the zord's arm. With a fiery explosion, the arm spun through the air, crashing to the ground several hundred metres away as the Parazord stumbled back.

In the cockpit, alarms began sounding, and Aaron glanced down to the power level - it was at thirty percent and dropping rapidly. And it was that second he realised the inescapable truth - the zord was dying. There was no way the Parazord could survive the battle, no way he could win this fight. Jason and Tommy had been right. Ultramarine had just been too powerful, and this fight was practically over.

"C'mon," he said, glancing around the cockpit. "Just hang in a bit longer. The city needs us, we can't fall. Not now."

"Aaron!" cried Alpha's voice from the radio. "You've got to retreat! If you keep fighting you'll lose the zord!"

"No," he replied, "Alpha I can't leave. If I do there'll be nobody left to stop Ultramarine from destroying the city."

"But one more blow and we'll lose the zord, and we might even lose you!"

"Alpha, you know I'm right. Just keep trying to find a way to get the others back. Aaron out," and the radio fell silent.

Slowly, despite the loss of its arm, the Parazord managed to climb back to its feet. Inside the cockpit, Aaron was amazed to see that although the power level had fallen below twenty percent, several lights on the control panel flickered as various systems within the zord began to switch back on. With eyes flashing, the mechanised beast suddenly let out a bellowing roar and turned to face Ultramarine. Aaron smiled as he realised that he wasn't alone - the zord wasn't going to give in without a fight. And then, glancing across the city to the park and remembering the Senior Team, he suddenly knew what to do.

"Jason!" he cried, punching the radio controls.

"Yeah?" came Jason's reply. "Aaron, man, you need to get out of there. Your zord..."

"I know," replied Aaron quickly. "The Parazord can't take much more of this. But that's why I'm calling, I've got an idea. Where are you?"

"The fight moved into the west side of the park. Why?"

"Can you try and herd the putties through the park and out near Minchinton Street, and then get out of the way?"

"Well yeah, I guess so. What do you have in mind?"

"Just trust me," and he clicked the radio switch off.

* * *

The Rangers didn't quite believe their ears. "What does he want us to do?" asked Zac.

The team had been battling their way through the ranks of the putties for the last fifteen minutes, and so far they seemed to be winning, as the unmoving bodies of dozens of the grey warriors littered the ground around them. But it seemed as if both sides had agreed to a temporary cease-fire - the putties had regrouped back behind Goldar, while the six Rangers gathered together about twenty metres away from them.

"Herd all the putties through the park and out near Minchinton Street," replied Jason. "Near the furniture factory there on the corner."

"For what purpose?" asked Billy.

"He didn't say why," Jason replied. "He just said he had an idea."

Tommy glanced around to the others. "Can we trust him?"

"There's no reason not to," Trini replied.

Jason nodded. "We might as well give it a try," he said. "Blasters out!"

"What's the matter Rangers?" asked Goldar, raising his sword. "Giving up?"

"Not hardly," said Jason. "Fire!" The Rangers all aimed low with their blasters, Tommy using the Dragon Dagger, and six multi-coloured laser blasts smashed into the ground in front of the putties, sending up a shower of dirt and smoke. The putties all immediately jumped back out of danger, and standing in a line, the Rangers fired again and again, each time moving Goldar and the putties further back.

Moving through the forested park, past the public swimming pool, the cricket pitch and the odd sculptures standing in the shade, the Rangers saw the park's eastern side approaching, and with another few blasts they'd forced the putties out of the park and back towards Minchinton Street. Stepping back, the troop of putties suddenly fell into the shadow of Ultramarine, who was standing over the City Council building further down the street.

"Billy, Zac, you guys go round that way!" called Jason. "Aim them back towards us!" The Blue and Black Rangers nodded and immediately sprinted away. Seconds later, another blast from the Rangers had forced Goldar and the putties to retreat back into the street.

Trini glanced to the Red and Green Rangers on either side. "At least it's working," she said.

Tommy nodded. "I just hope Aaron knows what he's doing."

* * *

"There never was a key," I said, standing up and massaging my back. "We could search all day, we're not going to find it."

"You sure?" asked Teresa, as everyone stood up and walked over.

I nodded. "Positive. The whole point to this place was to keep us away from the other Rangers while Ultramarine was attacking the city. I mean, Aaron probably threw a loop into Rita's plan, but we were never meant to leave here."

"Great," said Scott. "So next question..."

"How _do_ we get back?" asked Sarah.

"Quickly," I said, walking over to the gateway. "Jason and the others are pobably helping Aaron by now, but we still need to get back there. There's no telling what it'll take to bring down Ultramarine.

"And you have a plan?" asked Teresa.

"Count on it," I replied. "Orange Ranger, power down!" And with that, my suit vanished in a flash of light, and I was standing in my street clothes.

"By... powering down?" asked Sarah, confused.

I shook my head, and reached down into my pocket. "No. By picking the lock." My fingers closed around the small red pocketknife in my pocket, and pulling it free, I kneeled down by the huge heavy padlock.

"A pocketknife?" asked Scott. "Where did you get that?"

"It was a birthday present from a great uncle who lives in Vancouver," I said, concentrating on the lock. I'd never actually picked a lock before, but the padlock was huge and clunky. It shouldn't be that hard. I jammed the blade into the hole and began to twist it from side to side. "It's saved my butt more times that I can remember. And hopefully..."

Suddenly, there was a quiet 'chink' sound from inside the lock, and the padlock opened and fell into the mist. I dropped my pocketknife back in my pocket, stood up and pulled open the door. Behind the doorway was a swirling purple vortex that illuminated the Dark Dimension with an eerie blue light.

"Wow, nice work," nodded Brendan. "If I ever need to break into someone's house, I'll know just who to call."

I nodded. "Next stop, Caloundra," I said, and then reached for my morpher. "It's morphin' time! Stegosaurus!" Orange light exploded from my morpher and filled the dimension, and when it faded away, I was suited up and ready to go. Hesitating one more second, I shut my eyes, grit my teeth, and leaped forward into the vortex.

* * *

"And so Aqua Ranger, this is it," said Ultramarine, watching the Parazord take faltering steps towards him. "Your zord is dying, the fight is over, and predictably, you were nothing."

Aaron shook his head. "Funny thing about that," he said softly. "The city's still standing, I'm still here, and the only thing you'll be remembered for is getting your butt pretty damn thoroughly kicked. By me. Let's finish this." Gritting his teeth, Aaron reached across and grabbed the controls, and once again, the zord roared to life.

With a sudden burst of speed, the Parazord thundered forward, smashing Ultramarine back with its remaining hand before sending him stumbling with a high kick. Ultramarine recovered quickly and slashed at the zord's head with his left blade. The zord quickly ducked under and around the blow, batting Ultramarine's other hand away and striking its fist into the side of the warrior's head. Ultramarine stumbled back, dazed from the blow, and stepping forward, the Parazord spun around, aiming its tail for the warrior's face with every intention of knocking Ultramarine off his feet. But Ultramarine was simply too fast, and as the tail flashed towards him, he raised his right wrist blade and struck out, slicing the blade through the Parazord's tail. In a blaze of sparks and smoke, the broken tail flew away from the rest of the zord, landing with a crash over on the nearby beach.

It was the final blow. The loss of the zord's tail triggered a massive explosion from the remaining stump, and the zord began swaying from side-to-side as fire roared through its superstructure, blowing armour plates clear of the zord's body.

To anyone watching, it certainly seemed to be the Parazord's final moments. Sarking cables hung loose where its arm used to be, and fire was erupting from the huge gashes in its chest and stomach. The stump from the zord's tail was on fire too, and the zord was being rocked by constant explosions from within its metal hulk. Fires were breaking out all over the zord's body, and one-by-one, different systems within the zord began shutting down.

Down below, heroes and villains alike watched the Parazord. Goldar and the putties were stunned, and the six Senior Power Rangers were also frozen in helpless shock.

"Damn it," said Jason. "We've gotta help him, we've gotta do something."

"Like what?" asked Kimberly weakly. "What can we do?"

Beside the Pink Ranger, Tommy shook his head in disbelief. Even when the Green Ranger had lost his powers, at least he knew the Dragonzord was safe. But watching a zord die was just something else. He'd been fighting beside Jason when the Red Ranger had spoken to Aaron, and it was that moment the Green Ranger realised that Aaron had willingly sacrificed his zord to keep Ultramarine away from the rest of the city behind him.

That was strength and determination Tommy knew he'd never expected any of the Junior Team to show. The team - the entire team - had just suffered a catastrophic loss at the hands of Ultramarine, and Tommy suddenly couldn't wait for the chance to hit back.

Across the city inside the Parazord, Aaron remained calm. The Senior Team had done what he'd asked, and the plan was set.

"C'mon," Aaron said, slowly regaining control of the zord. "We're not out of the game yet. Let's take 'em down." The zord was too far forward - at least fifty metres away from where he needed the mechanised beast to be. Slowly, its battered and twisted joints sparking in protest, the zord took a step back over a street of houses, and then another. Two was all it needed, and it now towered over the army of putties and the six Rangers.

Kimberly turned to Jason. "What's he doing?" she asked.

Jason looked from the towering zord back down to the army, and realised Aaron's plan. Suddenly, a huge explosion ripped through the zord's left ankle, throwing the zord off-balance. Slowly at first but steadily gathering momentum, the zord began leaning sharply to one side, and was soon plummeting out of control towards the ground.

"Get out of the way!" cried Jason, and the Rangers leaped to safety just as the Parazord crashed to the ground, shaking the entire city and instantly reducing several nearby buildings to rubble. But even as the Parazord was plummeting towards them the putties hadn't moved, and by the time they realised what was about to happen, it was too late - nearly every single grey warrior was crushed by the zord, and the putties that survived the impact were soon destroyed by the massive explosion that ripped through the zord's body seconds after its collapse, tearing the zord in two.

* * *

Watching the battle from far above, Rita Repulsa had not taken her eyes away from her telescope for a second. It didn't matter that her plan had certainly not worked out how she'd thought, it didn't matter that Ultramarine had sustained some heavy damage during the battle with the Parazord, and it didn't matter that almost her entire army of putties had just been obliterated.

The cruel, triumphant smile on her face said it all.

* * *

The scorched exit hatch on the side of the zord swung outwards and fell off its hinges, and Aaron stumbled out, heart pounding in his chest. He'd survived the explosion and had somehow managed to make it to the escape hatch, and now, leaning against the side of the ruined zord, he reached down, demorphed in a flash of light and dropped his morpher into his shirt pocket, gulping down great lungfuls of air. Wiping the sweat from his brow, the Aqua Ranger glanced around and smiled at the sight of the puddles of clay on all sides. The Parazord had done it. But he didn't see the shadow creeping up behind him until it was too late, and a clawed hand suddenly wrapped around his neck, hauling him to his feet.

"You think you're so clever?" Goldar growled.

"Worked, didn't it?" Aaron replied, struggling to free himself and glancing around desperately for anything to use as a weapon.

"You destroyed the putty patrol, but you missed me," the golden warrior continued, "a failure I promise that you'll live to regret," and with that, Goldar turned and dragged the still-struggling Ranger away.

* * *

The five of us made it back just in time. Leaping through the vortex, we landed in the park beside the city's cultural centre, only a short distance from where the battle was taking place, and we watched in shock as the crippled Parazord crashed to the ground and obliterated the army of putties. Frozen in almost disbelief, we stood there in a trance as the zord literally fell apart before our eyes, and we didn't hear the Senior Rangers until they were only a few metres away.

"You guys all okay?" asked Jason. Surprised, we all turned to him.

"Yeah," replied Teresa quietly. "We're okay."

"You guys made it back safely?" asked Tommy.

Scott turned to the Green Ranger. "You thought we wouldn't?"

"No, I just thought that..." but Tommy paused. _The Senior team had broken in and out of the Dark Dimension enough times_. "Good work."

"Yeah, great," said Sarah. "For all the good it did."

"Ultramarine did this, didn't he?" I asked, my voice quiet.

Kim nodded. "Yeah, although it was Aaron's idea to take down the putties."

"We should've gotten back sooner," said Brendan.

"It wasn't your fault," said Trini. "We made the decision to stay and fight the putties, after all."

Brendan went to reply, but Sarah suddenly interrupted him.

"Where _is_ Aaron?" she asked. "He must've survived the zord being destroyed, but where is he?"

Billy shook his head. "We couldn't approach close enough to investigate thoroughly. Perhaps he teleported back..."

"Wait!" cried Scott suddenly. "Guys, there he is!" Everyone turned to where he was pointing, and we all saw Goldar dragging Aaron along behind him down the street and away from us, the pair of them soon disappearing from view.

"C'mon, we gotta go help him," I said, when suddenly a great shadow fell over us, and the ground began to shake as Ultramarine stepped over the ruined Parazord towards us.

"One down," he boomed cheerfully. "Who's next?"

Tommy looked over to us. "We'll take care of Ultramarine," he said. "You guys go and rescue Aaron."

"You got it," I said. "Give him hell for us."

"Count on it," nodded Jason, and the five of us immediately turned and raced away from the Senior Rangers.

Trini turned to Tommy. "I'm impressed," she said.

"You were right," he replied, glancing back to the ruined Parazord. "When you take on one of us, you take on all of us. Guess I only just got that."

The Yellow Ranger smiled. "I'm glad you came around."

"Me too," Tommy replied, then looked to the Red Ranger beside him. "For the Juniors. Let's break this freak."

Jason nodded, glancing up to the figure towering over them. "You thought you had a fight on your hands with Aaron?" he asked. "Trust me pal, you ain't seen nothing. C'mon guys," and the Rangers all raised their arms to the sky. "We need dinozord power, _now_!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Outside of town in an out-of-the-way place, the ground began to tremble and shake violently, soon splitting apart in a blaze of fire and smoke. First to rise from the ground was the mighty Tyrannozord. With its blue eyes glowing and red and silver armour shining, the zord let out a powerful roar and began its faithful trek inland. Immediately behind it, the black Mastodon and blue Triceratops zords rose to the surface side-by-side and followed the Tyrannozord towards the city, while seconds later, the Sabre-Toothed Tiger leaped to the surface with a growl as the Pterodactyl shot straight up into the air.

"Let's go!" cried Jason, and the five Rangers reached for their morphers and teleported into the rapidly-approaching zords.

"Time for Dragonzord," nodded Tommy, and raising the Dragon Dagger to his lips, he played the familiar tune that he knew would summon the giant metal beast from the sea. Sure enough, within seconds the mighty Dragonzord had risen from the depths off the coast and began to thunder towards the battleground, soon crossing the beach and entering the city. Reaching the other dinozords, they all turned to face Ultramarine, with the Pterodactyl circling high above.

"You really are slow learners," the warrior said, shaking his head. "Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm unstoppable, a force of nature! A god!"

"No," said Jason, the external radio relaying his words across to the warrior. "You're just a monster. And you're in luck, 'cause we know how to deal with them." And he pushed the Tyrannozord forward.

Ultramarine barked a short, sharp laugh. "Then attack if you can, but I will enjoy..."

Without warning the Tyrannozord's foot slammed into Ultramarine's jaw, lifting the warrior off his feet and sending him to the ground.

"You know," said Jason, "you really should shut up more. Hang back guys, this blue freak is all mine."

Ultramarine rolled to his feet in a cloud of dust, and charged towards the approaching Tyrannozord, angrily striking out. The zord ducked under the warrior's armoured fist and countered with a low kick to Ultramarine's stomach, forcing the warrior back. Ultramarine growled and slashed for the zord with his blades - blocking one and stepping back around the other, the Tyrannozord turned back to continue attacking when Ultramarine's shoulder cannon suddenly roared to life, the entire area erupting in sparks and smoke. Gritting his teeth, Jason pushed the zord forward through the storm, and the Tyrannozord charged towards Ultramarine and landed a blow to his helmet. The warrior recovered and carved his right blade towards the zord's chestplate - the zord struck away the warrior's fist, before taking to the air and slamming both feet against Ultramarine's chest, sending him crashing backwards. But Ultramarine quickly regained his footing and turned back to face his opponents.

In the Mastodon, Zac reached for the radio controls. "Feel better?" he asked.

Jason nodded. "Just a little."

"Well that barely slowed him down," the Black Ranger replied. "Next level?"

"You said it," nodded Jason. "Switch to Megazord mode, now!"

The other four Rangers nodded and immediately initiated the Megazord sequence. Charging forward, Trini's and Billy's zords drew side-by-side and connected to the Tyrannozord. Seconds later, the Tyrannozord's head dropped down behind its chestplate, and with the Megazord's face revealed, the Pterodactyl and Mastodon zords morphed and were drawn towards the Tyrannozord with a crackle of power. Finally, as each of the Rangers was automatically teleported into the Megazord's control room, the Triceratops and Sabre-Toothed Tiger came to a stop, launching the Megazord vertical.

"Megazord, power up!" said the Rangers, and with eyes flashing, the Megazord raised its arms and stepped across to join Dragonzord, both zords ready for battle.

"Okay pal," began Jason, "allying with Rita and attacking our city, for those we could've gone easy on you. But then you had to go and hurt one of our friends. For the record - really, really bad idea. Guys," and he glanced around to the other Rangers, "let's do it!" And with fists raised and several prayers muttered from those sitting within, the Megazord charged towards Ultramarine, the stage set for a colossal battle.

The city shook as the Megazord thundered towards its opponent, but Ultramarine was ready, and immediately slashed out for the Megazord's head with his right blade. The Megazord ducked under the blade but Ultramarine swung with his left - blocking his arm, the Megazord batted away the blade with a metallic clang, before sending Ultramarine stumbling with several rapid strikes to his chest armour. Ultramarine recovered quickly and retracted his blades, charging towards the Megazord and striking it with a flurry of left and right hooks. Showers of sparks rained down from the Megazord but the zord remained standing, catching Ultramarine's fist in midair, knocking it away before sending him crashing back through an accounting firm with a kick to the stomach. Ultramarine quickly found his footing, and as the Megazord approached, his shoulder cannon roared to life, laser blasts smashing into the front of the Megazord and forcing the zord back.

"Not so easy is it?" rumbled the warrior.

"Whoa," said Zac, as sparks rained down on the five Rangers, "that did some damage."

"Tommy," called Kim, "we took a hit and we need time to reboot."

The Green Ranger nodded. "Dragonzord's got you covered," he replied.

Charging towards Ultramarine, Dragonzord raised its hands and fired a barrage of missiles at its opponent. The missiles all found their target, smashing into Ultramarine's chest and stomach armour, but Ultramarine shrugged off the attack, stepping through the smoke cloud and landing several blows on Dragonzord's chestplate. Pulling his fist back, Ultramarine extended his right wrist blade and swung for the zord's stomach, but Dragonzord quickly stepped back out of range. Hoping to catch the zord while it was off-balance, Ultramarine charged forward, but Dragonzord swatted away his fists and smashed him back with a blow to the chest.

Now recovered, the Megazord thundered forward to take up the attack, striking Ultramarine away with a roundhouse punch. Ultramarine staggered back in a cloud of dust, and raised his blades to retaliate as the zord approached. The Megazord easily ducked back around the blades, but before the zord could attack, Ultramarine raced forward and knocked the Megazord back with a kick to the chest. The warrior spun around to face Dragonzord only to find the zord already before him, and blocking a hastily-thrown punch, Dragonzord blasted Ultramarine back. The blue warrior regained his footing and charged forward with his fists raised - Dragonzord stood its ground, and spinning around on the spot, smashed its drill weapon into Ultramarine's helmet, sending the warrior to the ground in a blaze of sparks and smoke.

"Nice one Dragonzord," nodded Zac.

With a cry of rage, Ultramarine climbed to his feet, extended both blades and slashed them towards Dragonzord. The zord had no time to defend itself and the tips of the blades carved through the zord's chest shield in a shower of sparks. Amazingly the zord remained standing, but the Megazord charged to its defense, smashing Ultramarine away with a blow to the helmet. Ultramarine stumbled back as the Megazord followed after him, and ducking under a right roundhouse punch, he smashed both fists into the Megazord's stomach. But the Megazord remained unfazed, bashing away Ultramarine's hands before a powerful right backhand knocked him off his feet .

"Whoa," said Kim, as Dragonzord joined the Megazord, "we must be getting to him."

Billy nodded. "Affirmative. He seems to be losing power."

"Then let's not stop now," said Jason, and both zords charged forward to continue the assault.

* * *

We figured Goldar would've taken Aaron as far away from the looming zord battle as possible, so we raced towards where we'd seen them, away from the zords and down past the library towards the Sunland Shopping Centre in the distance, our arms pumping and feet pounding the pavement. A row of abandoned shops and houses lined the road - these were the buildings we'd seen Goldar disappear into.

"I don't see them," said Teresa, scanning the buildings on either side of the road.

"They have to be here somewhere," said Brendan. "Keep looking."

I held up my hand, signaling for everyone to stop. "We have to split up," I said. "That way we can cover more ground."

Sarah glanced around the group. "We find him," she said. "We tear down every building in the city if we have to, but we find him."

I nodded. "Let's go!" And with that, the five of us raced away from each other. We had to find Aaron, we had to find him fast, and time was not on our side.

* * *

Goldar threw Aaron to the ground, the Aqua Ranger landing with a painful crash in the corner of the room.

"All right Ranger," Goldar growled as Aaron crawled to his feet, "you've got one chance to save yourself. Your Power Coin - give it to me _now_."

Aaron replied without thinking. "Not on your life," he said. "I know exactly what you and Rita will be able to do if I hand it over."

Goldar sneered. "You don't want to know what I'll do if you _don't_ hand it over," he said. "I find your courage admirable, boy, but right now it will get you nowhere. Give me the coin!"

Realising the choice before him, in the face of almost every instinct Aaron shook his head and stepped forward. "What part of 'no' do you badguys have such a problem with?"

Goldar nodded. "Your choice," he said. "Defending friends who are not coming to save you," and he raised his sword. "Like I said, without each other you're nothing. If you have such faith in them, tell me, where are your friends now?"

Without warning the entire room shook, and the wall behind them exploded inwards as if hit by a battering ram, showering them both with pieces of rubble and forcing them to take cover. Once the dust cloud had cleared, they turned to find the source of the disturbance, only to see a tall, purple-costumed figure silhouetted in the light from the gaping hole.

"Where we always were," said Sarah, "right here," and raising her Power Mace she leaped into the room. Goldar struck aside Aaron so violently he tore his shirt, swinging his sword for the Purple Ranger. Sarah blocked the sword and batted it away, spinning under another swipe and smashing Goldar back with a blow to the chest.

Now between Aaron and Goldar, Sarah raised her mace defensively, and Aaron stepped forward and joined the Purple Ranger.

"See that's the thing you need to understand," Aaron said, "something I only just figured out. I was one of the good guys, Goldar. And I was _never_ alone."

Sarah turned to him. "You okay?"

Aaron nodded. "Been better," he said. "But very glad to see you. What a day, huh?"

Sarah smiled, and looked back to Goldar. "Forget it Goldar. Ultramarine is history and the Rangers are on their way. It's over."

Grinning with evil delight, Goldar held up the piece of Aaron's shirt he'd torn away, and as the scrap of fabric fell away, the golden Parasaurolophus coin sparkled in the sunlight.

"Not yet," he said. "Not by a longshot."

* * *

Across the city, the two zords continued to trade blows with Ultramarine, and although their opponent was incapable of acknowledging it, the six Rangers knew that they were winning. Blocking Ultramarine's fist, Dragonzord slammed the warrior back, continuing after him and landing blow after blow as Ultramarine staggered backwards. Managing to duck back out of range, the warrior stepped forward and swung for the zord's head - Dragonzord spun under the blow, the zord swinging its tail drill for the warrior as he passed. Ultramarine caught the drill with metres to spare, but the zord's chestlights began flashing and the Dragonzord carved the drill down Ultramarine's chest, before turning, raising its hands and firing a barrage of missiles. Dozens of projectiles smashed into Ultramarine, and where before he'd shrugged them off, the force of the blast now lifted him off his feet and sent him flying backwards, the entire area erupting in fire and sparks.

"Wow," said Trini. "Five minutes ago that attack didn't do anything."

"Well I say we finish him off once and for all," said Tommy.

"Couldn't agree more," nodded Jason, and the Rangers raised their arms to the sky. "We call upon the power of Titanus!"

As Ultramarine regained his bearings, he felt the ground begin to shake, and realised that he was in trouble. With a roar of power, the mighty carrier zord known as Titanus burst onto the scene, punching through a row of low hills on the horizon and powering into the city towards the battlefield. As the brachiosaur zord approached, its tail immediately split in two, the halves automatically repositioning themselves as Titanus's two massive shoulder cannons.

"I'm not afraid of that big tin can," Ultramarine growled.

Jason nodded. "Good for you," he said. "Titanus, fire!"

Titanus roared in response, and two blasts of energy exploded from his shoulder cannons, slamming into Ultramarine and lifting him off his feet. Launched backwards through the air, the warrior cleared both the city and beach before coming down with an enormous splash in Pumicestone Passage, sending huge foamy waves surging up the beach and over the roads. Slowly, painfully, Ultramarine staggered to his feet - huge pieces of his chest armour had been torn away by the assault, but he refused to believe he was in danger. How could he be?

"No," he cried, staggering towards the shore, kicking up huge waves with each footstep and weakly raising his wrist blades, "this is not possible. I am invincible!"

"Even monsters know when they're beaten," said Zac, glancing around to the other Rangers. "Let's take this loser out once and for all."

"You said it," nodded Kim. "Ultrazord, power up!"

The Megazord turned to face the Dragonzord and found that the zord had already split in two, each half swinging out horizontally. The Megazord's crown and shoulders quickly repositioned themselves, and the two halves of the Dragonzord lowered themselves down onto the Megazord amid flashes of lightning from a suddenly cloudy sky. Finally, the combined mass of zords turned to the approaching Titanus, took to the air and dropped down into the back of the mighty carrier zord. The Ultrazord had formed.

"So, Ultramarine," said Jason, "you wanted ultimate power, right? Well, it's all yours. Ultrazord, lock on and fire!"

The targetting systems within the colossal zord locked onto the retreating form of Ultramarine, and the dozens of cannons adorning the Ultrazord simultaneously roared to life, a massive energy blast exploding from the zord. Spiralling across the battleground, the barrage of laser blasts, guided rockets and fireballs slammed into Ultramarine with devastating force, the blast instantly launching him backwards through the air.

"No!" he screamed, but it was too late - an immense fireball enveloped the blue warrior, and Ultramarine was torn apart in a cataclysmic explosion that lit up the beach and reverberated throughout the city, cracking windows and shaking buildings all across Caloundra.

"All right!" exclaimed Jason, as Titanus roared victoriously.

"And you know what?" said Zac. "That felt really good."

Tommy nodded. "Now that he's been taken care of, let's go find the others..."

* * *

"Okay Goldar," Sarah said, as calmly as she could manage, "just give us back the Power Coin."

"Why?" he asked, edging back away from her, knowing Sarah could never prevent him from leaving, grab the coin _and_ protect Aaron all at once.

"Because if you do," she said, stalling for time, "then you might just make it out of here alive."

"And who's going to stop me? You?" he asked. Without warning, the shockwave from the Ultrazord blast hit the building, and a shower of dust rained down on the room's three occupants.

"No, us," came a voice, and suddenly, Teresa, Brendan, Scott and I were standing in the gap in the wall, all armed with our Power Weapons.

"You hear that Goldar?" I continued. "That was Ultramarine, and from the sounds of it they'll be picking pieces of him out of the passage for months. Unless you want the same fate, I'd suggest playing nicely."

Outnumbered and outgunned, Goldar backed up and found himself in a very literal corner. At first he dismissed the idea that Ultramarine had been destroyed, but there was something in my voice, an absolute faith in the Senior Team, that told him it was the truth. But then, glancing across to the Power Coin in his hand, Goldar's lips curled back into an evil grin, and he held the coin up and closed his fingers around it.

"No!" cried Aaron, and as one, we leaped forward, but we were too late. In less than a second, Goldar had completely crushed Aaron's Parasaurolophus Power Coin, reducing the coin to powder in his palm. And as he opened his hand and the golden specks fell to the ground, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed down from the heavens, signifying the tremendous shift of power within the Morphin' Grid. Then, with a final vengeful laugh, Goldar teleported away.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Despite our defeat of Ultramarine, the mood in the Command Centre later that day was anything but victorious. We'd lost, and we'd lost spectacularly. Even _if_ the Parazord could be repaired - and its charred remains were lying in a holding bay deep beneath us in the mountain - Aaron's Power Coin had been destroyed. One-by-one, all in a state of hollow, empty shock, everybody was steadily realising the simple, inescapable truth - Aaron could no longer be a Ranger.

"The aqua power is still contained within the grid," explained Zordon, "but without a Power Coin, we have no way of using it. The Power's link to this world was severed, and there is simply no way of repairing it." Zordon paused, and looked down to Aaron. "I'm truly sorry Aaron," he said, and for the first time I could remember, his voice was soft, almost a whisper. "If I'd known how things were going to turn out..."

"Hey, don't worry," said Aaron with an oddly reassuring smile. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "It was ours."

Aaron immediately turned to her. "Don't say that," he said. "It's not true."

"But if we'd gotten back from the Dark Dimension sooner..."

"Then Ultramarine might've destroyed your zords as well," said Aaron. "Look, we fight the badguys on a daily basis, maybe we just have to lose occasionally. You know, to keep the law of averages on our side."

"But we beat him," said Tommy weakly. "We were supposed to win." He looked away, and without a word Kimberly reached across and took his hand in hers.

I glanced around the room and up to Jason, the Red Ranger nodding and resting his hand on my shoulder. Tommy was right, we'd won. So why did we still lose?

Standing in the centre of the room, seemingly the least affected out of anybody in the room, Aaron glanced around to each of us. "Guys, it's okay. We beat the badguy, right? A badguy that nobody thought we'd beat, a badguy nobody has _ever_ beaten. I mean, yay," he said with a slight smile, then paused. "Look, all good things have to end sometime. So it was a short superhero career - that's a lot more than anybody else gets." He looked away, and there was a moment of silence, broken as Aaron stepped forward, unclipped his wrist communicator and placed it on the bench.

"Alpha," he said, turning to the robot, "can you teleport me out of here?"

Alpha nodded, and silently turned to the control panel as Jason stepped forward. "Aaron," he began, extending a hand which Aaron shook, "all I've got is that it shouldn't have ended this way. You were an awesome Ranger, and the team won't be the same without you."

"Thanks," Aaron said. "I couldn't imagine a better leader for the team."

Jason stepped back, and I turned to him. "Aaron, I always thought you were the greatest. You didn't have to prove it, but you did." I paused, and looked into his eyes. "Bad things just happen to good people, I guess."

His eyes twinkled and he laughed. "Don't I know it," he said. Then, he reached down into his back pocket, pulled out a creased sheet of paper and gave it to me. "I wanted to tell you all about this sooner, but I never got around to it and I guess now it doesn't matter," he said, then smiled a soft smile. "Funny how these things work out, isn't it?"

I took the paper from him, and he stepped back and looked up to Zordon.

"Thanks for everything Zordon," he said. "Stay cool."

Then, he turned back to us, and with a final wave, Aaron disappeared in a flash of aqua light, and teleported back to Caloundra.

"We'll miss you," I murmured to no-one in particular, before unfolding the sheet of paper and beginning to read what was on it.

"Aaron's loss is indeed devastating," said Zordon. "We're one Ranger down, and Rita knows it. Brendan, from now on you will have to take Aaron's place on the team. We will modify the Dilophozord so that it will be able to combine with the other zords to form the Megazord."

"I'm up for it, I guess," replied Brendan.

Zordon nodded. "Take heart Rangers. I know it might seem far away, but you _will_ heal, and the team will grow strong again. Aaron was very much right - Rita expected the teams to fall without one other, and not only did you prove her wrong, you soundly defeated Ultramarine, something nobody has ever done. You should be proud, all of you."

"Whoa," I said, still reading, and everyone turned to me.

"What is it?" asked Trini.

I looked up, blushing when I realised I'd said that aloud. "It's a letter," I replied, "from Aaron's uncle up north. According to this, Aaron's uncle has to move overseas so he's passing the family business on to Aaron's mother. Which means that Aaron has to move back up north in, like, a week."

There was a stunned silence. Scott gave a low whistle.

"Why didn't he tell us?" asked Teresa.

"He was probably worried," said Tommy. "About how we'd all react, I guess."

"No wonder he was so down this morning," said Sarah. "Imagine dealing with _that_ on your own."

Jason turned to me. "I think you'd better go find him," he said.

I nodded, and looked over to Sarah. "Do you want to...?"

Sarah shook her head. "You go."

"Thanks," I replied. "Alpha, can you teleport me out of here?"

* * *

With a good idea where Aaron would be, I demorphed and had Alpha teleport me directly into the Youth Centre. Stepping out of the empty locker-room, I saw that I'd guessed right - Aaron was sitting in the far corner of the room, gazing unfocussed at the smoothie on the table in front of him. Walking over, I grabbed a chair from another table and sat down in front of him. He looked up, surprised, but smiled when he saw me.

"Hey," he said.

"We read the letter," I said. "It's okay, we understand. You know you didn't have to deal with that alone, you could've told us."

Aaron nodded. "I know, now," he said. "But thanks."

"Even without your powers, we still would've hung out with you," I said. "You don't have to move all the way to north Queensland."

Aaron laughed. "It's good to know," he said, and then looked away. "So much for a happy ending, right?"

"Hey," I said, "don't look so sad."

"Why shouldn't I?" he replied. "I blew it. I lost my powers. I let you all down and I let Zordon down. And I don't even want to think about how much it'll cost to fix a zord." He paused, sighing. "You know, we got those coins and I thought great, this was my chance to make a difference, save the world, help people and all the other stuff that heroes are supposed to do. To really be somebody, you know, not just a face in the crowd who needs rescuing. And I couldn't even keep my own coin from being destroyed. Some hero I turned out to be."

I smiled. "Hey," I said, and he turned back to me. "Maybe I'm missing something, but I thought you did all of those things."

"I did?"

"Sure you did," I said, and raising my hand, I began counting off my fingers. "You helped beat Monitar, I mean, that's why we were given the coins in the first place. You helped the team fight off an entire army to reach Torlus, somebody who needed our help. Never mind the fact that you helped hold off a freakin' mountain when Rita talked him into declaring war on the city."

In spite of himself, Aaron smiled. "Okay, I didn't do much then..."

"We couldn't have done it without you," I said. "And that's not even counting today, I mean, you wiped out an entire army of putties and gave up your powers to save thousands of people. Think about it - if you hadn't wiped the floor with Ultramarine the Seniors might not have been able to destroy him at all. Not to mention..."

But at that moment, Aaron reached across the table and put a hand over my mouth. "You run out of breath yet?" he said, sitting back with a smile.

I shook my head and grinned. "We both know I could talk a monster into self-destructing if I had to," I said. "Are you going to admit that I'm right?"

"You really think I'm a hero?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, and I'm not the only one," I said, then glanced over to the locker hallway where ten pairs of eyes were watching us. Following my gaze and seeing the others, Aaron couldn't help but smile. "Just, no matter what happens," I continued, "here or forever, promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"You'll never forget us?"

Aaron grinned. "Never, man. Not even if I tried."

* * *

For the twelve of us, the next week passed way too quickly. We all helped Aaron and his family pack up all their things, and we even helped the real estate agent show some people around their house one afternoon in the middle of the week. At school, the five of us spent as much time with Aaron as we could, but even then, before we realised it the week had passed and it was Friday afternoon. After promising to call and write as often as he could, Aaron gave everyone a bone-crushing bearhug, and bid us all a fond farewell.

But as he was leaving school, Aaron noticed Joshua walking a few steps ahead of him, and decided to follow him home.

"See, the thing is," Aaron said, "I know you guys all give Pete a hard time. Maybe it's just your way of being friendly, I don't know. But as you've probably heard, I'm heading north and I won't be able to look out for him anymore." Aaron paused, and smiled. "Now, I'll be coming back to the coast pretty regularly with my family, and if I _ever_ hear that you've been _too_ friendly, not only will those trips become more frequent, but I will _personally_ be dropping around to say hello. Are we clear?"

It wasn't _what_ Aaron had said but _how_ he'd said it - holding Joshua upside down by the ankles and bouncing his head on the grass to punctuate every sentence - that ensured Joshua was remarkably clear about the subject indeed.

And as it turns out, I didn't hear a word from any of them for weeks.

The End.


End file.
